Study: Third Industry Pillar in the Healthcare System
holds up under Scrutiny

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11/20/2009

CompuGROUP Holding AG

Study: Third Industry Pillar in the Healthcare System
holds up under Scrutiny

CompuGROUP has forward-looking results for Decision Support

Koblenz – November 20, 2009: At this year’s MEDICA, CompuGROUP Holding AG, one of the leading worldwide providers of eHealth, will present the first concrete results for one of their most important Medical Decision Support Systems (MDSS). A study of the care received by almost 5,000 participant patients in the IV project “AOK aktiv + vital”, a joint project with the AOK of Hessen, demonstrated that workflow-integrated software solutions improve patients’ health and at the same time are instrumental in resource and cost savings. Currently, more than 6,000 patients are cared for as part of the “AOK aktiv + vital” project.

One of the notable results of the innovative, software-assisted program for diabetic and atrisk patients: Approximately every third patient who was outside of recommended parameters at the start of the program had blood pressure and triglyceride levels already within the targeted region after the first three months. This positive trend was maintained and improved during the subsequent year of review and had improved with particular regard to the marker for long-term blood sugar control, the HbA1c level. “One of the medical quality indicators we looked at were the so-called triglycerides. When they decrease, the patient is either eating better, getting more exercise or the physician has prescribed medication that improves the overall risk profile. That was exactly our goal – to adapt the affected patient’s life to the risk constellation,” said Professor Dr. med. Stefan F. Winter, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of CompuGROUP Holding AG. Members of his team were instrumental in helping to plan the medical concept of AOK aktiv + vital 2007 and they translated it into a fully integrated software solution.

In addition, an independent medical expert panel monitors the current guideline-based contents and their results. MEDICA president Professor Dr. med. Werner Scherbaum is also a member of this panel. “Together with the AOK, we had these analyses and the evaluation of the program carried out by independent, university-associated companies. The results came in two weeks ago and quite honestly, it was more than we expected,” continued the CMO, who meanwhile was looking at the results from seven quarterly periods, as well as the first documentation of more than 1.000 patients.

“We see these very promising results as a renewed challenge to anchor our Medical Decision Support Systems in the healthcare system as a new, third pillar of the industry,”said CompuGROUP’s Chief Executive Officer, Frank Gotthardt, at the company’s MEDICA press conference on Wednesday. “Up to now, the industry was primarily dedicated to the two pillars drug therapy and medical products, but an additional option is increasingly developing and has shown itself to be efficient as well as effective: The use of intelligent software to optimize the utilization of all resources in the healthcare system, consistent with an increase in efficiency and quality,” said the company founder. Mr. Gotthardt also pointed out that, in part, there was evidence of savings amounting to several thousand Euros per patient per year. “Even though these are initial trend analyses that have to be honed further, we are certainly on the right path and we will continue to follow the results with interest, together with healthcare professionals and economists. It has been worth it to have lived through numerous childhood illnesses, which one encounters with every new,visionary project.”

MEDICA, the worldwide largest event for experts in the medical sector, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. CompuGROUP is also represented at the trade fair with numerous subsidiaries, in pavilion 15, C32.

About CompuGROUP Holding AGCompuGROUP is one of the leading e-health companies in the world. Its software products designed to support medical and organizational activities in physicians’ surgeries and hospitals, its information services for all parties involved in the health sector and its Webbased personal medical files contribute to the development of a more reliable and efficient health service system. The basis for the services offered by CompuGROUP is an unparalleled customer base comprising some 326,000 physicians, dentists, hospitals and networks, as well as other service providers. CompuGROUP is the e-health company with the widest global reach among service providers. The firm operates in 14 European countries, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the U.S. and currently employs roughly 2,800 people.